Tuesday will be a momentous day in Cleveland. The Indians will be hosting Game 1 of the World Series and a little earlier in the night, the Cleveland Cavaliers will be receiving their championship rings at Quicken Loans Arena.
But while the Cavs get their rings and all of Cleveland rejoices, the New York Knicks will be watching from the sidelines, waiting for the game to start. Knicks coach Jeff Hornacek actually thinks all of that waiting will be beneficial for his team as he is hoping they get angry and inspired after watching the Cavs ring ceremony.
From Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News:
The Knicks drew perhaps the toughest season opener possible at Cleveland on Tuesday. But Jeff Hornacek believes there's one advantage to diving right in against the defending champs: his players get to witness the championship ring ceremony.
"(I hope it does) a couple of things," Hornacek said. "Inspires or ticks you off that you're not doing it. If guys can take something out of that, I always felt it was good to have your guys watch it. If you lose in the playoffs, watch the other team celebrate because that gets you ready for the next year and hopefully spurs you on to work harder and see what it takes to get to that level."
Hornacek's hope for his team to be angry isn't unwarranted. Many defending champions have lost on opening night. In the last 10 years, only four defending champions have won after they've received their rings.
So the Knicks do have a chance. However, the Cavaliers have a ton of talent with LeBron James, Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love. Cleveland is also returning basically the same key players of their championship team, so it already has cohesion and chemistry. The Knicks have a different situation as they are incorporating new players like Derrick Rose and Joakim Noah and playing for a new coach in Hornacek.
Perhaps Hornacek is right, the Knicks just need to get angry. If it worked for the Hulk, perhaps it could also work for the Knicks on Tuesday.
